Lyr Add: Silence (Michael Marra)

Subject: Lyr Add: SILENCE (Michael Marra)
From: DrugCrazed
Date: 06 Nov 13 - 06:46 AM

I listened to Coope Boyes and Simpson's "As If..." album yesterday and this one struck me as a nice song. I like it more now I've listened to the lyrics and realised I have no idea what the hell is going on.

There is no such thing as silence
In the heavens or the well
Some protozoa make semaphore
His metaphor to tell

There are hydrocarbon radicals
That take the place of one or more
Of the three hydrogen atoms
And they cheer each other on

A moamat(?) amoeba
Please don't ever change
Tomorrow you'll be gorgeous
And this well will be unchanged

Strange fruit and wishful thinking
Bring me women and bring me men

Well the heavens can be noisy too
There's a din up there as well
If you had them for your neighbours
You'd think they came from hell

Due to isotopes of thorium
And alpha types of rain
You can make out the rules of shinty
Up and down the milky way

Strange fruit and wishful thinking
Bring me women and bring me men

But when humans try the silence thing
They pull it inside out
They find their lips can't fashion
What their heart appears to shouts

In panic and confusion
Or a quiet word of prayer
If they didn't have to human be
The silence would be there

Strange fruit and wishful thinking
Bring me women and bring me men

Strange fruit and wishful thinking
Bring me women and bring me men

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silence (Michael Marra)
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 06 Nov 13 - 10:21 AM

I don't understand it either, DrugCrazed. It seems to be saying that humans are, by nature, never silent.

On Friday, I joined three friends on a rowboat ride on a small river nearby. We went upstream for a while, then rowed back. But for a few minutes we shipped all oars and drifted with the current. There was NO SOUND expect for a chirping of a few insects and a twitter or two from a bird. It was magical. An almost-religious feeling came over the four of us.

And I thought, "Before engines, before appliances, before background music, people used to have this peace all the time."

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silence (Michael Marra)
From: GUEST,Georgina Boyes
Date: 06 Nov 13 - 12:32 PM

It's a very good transcription, only a few changes needed -

Verse 1 - "Some protozoon.."

Verse 3 - It's part of one of the first Latin verbs pupils learn at school - "Amo, Amat..." - I love, you love....

Verse 5 - "alpha types of ray..."

And yes, it's a brilliant song - as Michael Marra's usually were.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silence (Michael Marra)
From: DrugCrazed
Date: 07 Nov 13 - 05:21 AM

But protozoa makes sense in context!

I spent most of yesterday trying to find out what "A moamat Amoeba" meant, so I learned too much about amoeba...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silence (Michael Marra)
From: GUEST,Georgina Boyes
Date: 07 Nov 13 - 06:41 AM

Sorry,the Latin is: Amo - I love, Amat - he/she/it loves
You love - is amas

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silence (Michael Marra)
From: GUEST,PompousGit
Date: 26 Jun 20 - 02:15 PM

@leeneia

Peace and quiet they may have had, but they still enjoyed a riotous game of shinty!

@Georgina

And in the words of that other fine lyricist, John Lennon:

“Amo, amas, amat,
A monk, a mink, a minibus”